About Lesley Dabson

I enjoy both painting and drawing and I find that regular life drawing helps my painting. I am a member of the Hesketh Hubbard Life Drawing Society, the largest Life group in London, and one of the societies that make up the 9 in the Federation of British Artists. I'm a regular at life drawing sessions held at the home of the FBA, the Mall Galleries in London. We have 4 models at each session, a portrait, a 2 hour pose, 30 minute poses and 15 minute poses, the models choose their poses. I usually work on 30 minute drawings, and use large willow charcoal, which prevents too much detail, and covers the paper more speedily than pencil. I enjoy the timed element, and love the demands of different poses, particularly a bit of foreshortening. I like to work on paper with texture, so usually use a rough watercolour paper, either A3 or A2 in size. I use a putty rubber to define highlights. Each drawing is fixed as well as possible with a professional fixative.